There is an elephant in the room in every discussion about the upcoming expansion of World of Warcraft, North. Or maybe I should say a sword. Really, a really massive sword.
I am talking about the sword of Sargeras, an absolutely colossal weapon larger than the mountain, which Sargeras stabbed a few extensions ago and since then sat there, without admission, probably doing something terrible on the planet.
For years, WOW fans have been asking if we ever intended, you know, do something about it. And Blizzard was very, very shy when asked. But the answers are coming, says the director of the game Ion Hazzikostas, if not in the north, then at least at the end of the Worldsoul saga.
As a summary, the Sargeras sword is a sword, well, the Titan Sargeras, which stabbed directly to the planet at the end of the expansion of the WOW Legion, when he was thrown out of Azeroth. Initially, he poisons the planet, but players exploit their artifact weapon Legion to drain the poison and buy the planet from the sword … something for it. Although the sword was discussed further in the next expansion, the battle of Azeroth, since then it was largely forgotten from the plot’s point of view. Instead, it’s just … sitting there in the middle of Silithus.
And I really can’t emphasize enough huge. You can see it from several zones further! Does nobody think it’s a problem?
In BlizzCon 2023, when Saga Worldsoul was announced, a brief moment of joy appeared that Blizzard could finally get the sword out of the planet or at least do something about it. Was A huge statue of the sword in the Congress HallComplete with the meme-iza “what sword?” signature. Hazzikostas even wore a shirt decorated with “What Sword?” At that time, the executive director of Warcraft, Chris Metzen, confirmed that we would see the solution to the problem of the sword in the last fragment of the trilogy, the last Titan.
But the last titan cannot come soon, and the war inside and everything we saw at midnight remains especially without a sword. So in an interview with Hazzikostas and WOW, leading the UX Crash Reed designer, I asked them about the sword. What is it about? Will we finally do anything about it in the north?
“What sword?” They both chanted in response, simultaneous and predictable. I laughed. Yes, okay. I deserved it.
But Hazzikostas continued. We will be Do something about it. “Before the world saga ends. Metzen promised and Metzen does not lie.”
So stick to everyone there. Like the rest of this extension, all subsequent and presumably all or most of the last titans.
To get our impressions from all the pieces of the North, which we have seen so far, without add -ons, check our preview of the up-to-date extension. You can also read more from the same interview with Hazzikostas and Reed, in particular their response to changes around WOW add -ons in the north.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior Ign reporter. You can find her post on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.skyla. Do you have a hint with history? Send it to ralentine@ign.com.
